Night had fallen around us. The only sound now came from the campfire that was burning in the hallway near where the galleon still sat. The smoke rose, covering the ceiling and slowly moving out of the open hole in the roof. Daring Do had unpacked a small pot and a small raised grate. She put the grate over the fire, placing the pot on top of it, and was boiling some sort of stew on it for us. I'd seen her chop up some potatoes, some carrots, and various other small greens before mixing in some water and what could only be some sort of vegetable stock. The Phoenixes were all busily chatting on the other side of the hall out of earshot while Spike was leaning against me, eyes closed as the poor Dragon snoozed thanks in part to the warmth of my left wing wrapped protectively around him. I'd talked to him earlier about his recently acquired new vocabulary and made him promise to never use it around Twilight, but since he was so exhausted afterwards, he was bound to forget, so I decided to talk to him again when he woke up.

I was leaning against the wall, staring blankly at my Skype screen, just waiting for Twilight or Sunset to log on. On my right, the Sunsword lay, now encased in a swordless scabbard I'd found lying around when I'd looked for a place to relieve myself. The scabbard was not quite the same size as the sword itself, but it would do. I didn't really like the thought of the sword being exposed like that.

I absently changed programs, pulling out my Raycon earbuds and slipping them in before opening up my music and scrolling through it. I stopped at a random artist, tapped it, then hit play.

"On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree."

The Ray Conniff Singers began singing out their version of the song, but despite my love of the song and the fact that it was in season, not even that seemed to distract my mind from the situation. I leaned back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling, staring at the brief portion of the starry night sky I was able to see through the hole. Seeing that, I thought of Luna. I wondered just how worried she might be for me. And not just her, but the other mares in my life, especially the ones who'd been confessing their feelings to me seemingly left and right.

Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Scarlet Dusk and Fluttershy. Four Pony mares had all confessed their romantic interest in me. I remembered their worried faces from before I left. Even if I couldn't be completely sure of my own feelings about them, I knew I cared very strongly about them. Even Scarlet, the horniest mare on the planet, meant a great deal to me and it just didn't seem right to see her normally suggestive smirk being replaced by a look of pure fear. Just imagining any of my new friends and my marefriend worrying about me so much both warmed my heart at their concern and broke it, especially since I loved seeing any of their smiles.

It even hurt to see Celestia so worried for me. She was always more radiant with her warm and tender smile, but seeing her so tired and distraught hurt.

Instantly, I realized the line of thinking I was going down was a dangerous one. I sighed and leaned back against the wall behind me. My need to please is going to be the death of me…and I already died once! Everyone's smiles meant a lot to me. Seeing their warm and happy faces filled me with more joy than I felt like I'd ever had back on Earth, with the exception of my memories with my Trixie.

I decided to amuse myself a bit by opening an old solitaire app. I bobbed my head to the Christmas tunes I was playing which were occasionally interrupted by the sound of cards being flipped whenever I tapped the ones on screen.

I was three games in when the current song I was listening to quickly faded away to be replaced with the sound of an incoming Skype call. I disconnected my earbuds quickly and hit answer. The screen lit up, and I saw a very concerned looking Twilight Sparkle sitting in her library facing the laptop I'd lent her. But she wasn't alone. The library itself was crowded with not only the Mane Six, but Zecora, Scarlet, Shining Armor, Cadance, and the Celestial Sisters. Sunset was there as well, using her magic to manipulate the mouse.

They all looked majorly wiped out. There were bags under their eyes, but even then, the moment the call started, I could see their expressions brighten, if just a little. Even Shining looked relieved to see me. He had a few bandages around his midsection, but other than that he looked relatively unscathed.

Twilight was the first to speak. "Heh, hi Jethro!" She put on a wide smile, and the majority of the other Ponies did the same, but I could tell it was fake. "How was your day?"

"Did you do anything fun?" Pinkie asked in the background.

I gave a very small smile. It made me feel warm inside to see Twilight trying so hard to be cheerful in a situation that was anything but, so I decided to indulge her and the rest of them for a bit. "Tiring, but rewarding."

She looked a bit relieved. "That's good. How's Spike?"

I moved the screen to show him curled up underneath my wings. "Poor guy's all tuckered out."

Rarity moved closer to the screen to get a closer look, smiling at the sight. "Poor Spikey Wikey looks wiped."

I smiled and stroked his spines gently. "Indeed he is," I said. "But he's safe."

Twilight exhaled slowly. "I'm glad to hear that. What happened today?"

"Oh, today was one of the most eventful ones I'd ever had. I met some new friends, for one."

Twilight's ears twitched a bit. "Oh? Who?"

"One second," I said, looking over at Daring Do, who was just tasting her soup. "Daring! Come over here for a bit and meet my other friends!"

Daring looked over at me, eyebrow raised. "Meet them how? There's nopony else around."

I held up my phone. "They're back in Ponyville, but I can use this as a long-range communication device. Come on."

She put down her wooden spoon, walked over and stood next to Spike. She looked at the screen, and I slowly rotated the phone to put her into the shot. "Ladies and gentleman, allow me to present the one, the only, Daring Do!"

My announcement shocked the others on the other end into silence. Rainbow Dash flew directly towards the screen, her face filling the camera. "Now wait just a damn minute! You're telling me that Daring Do, that adventure book series, is real!?"

"She appeared in the show," I said, "and yes, she's very real. All of her adventures are quite real. Pick them up sometime! I have it on good authority you'll enjoy them!"

"Reading is for eggheads," Rainbow Dash muttered softly, crossing her forelegs and pouting.

"Well, I do sometimes exaggerate some details in the stories," Daring said, "but not by much."

"How did you two meet?" Twilight asked, gently pushing Rainbow aside.

"Completely on accident," I said, and quickly relayed the story, about how she snuck aboard the galleon next to us and how she had joined forces with us so we could figure out the mysteries of the castle together, how she'd tried to enter the tower with me and Spike only to be rejected, and more.

There was silence on the other end when I finished, until finally Twilight said, "Wow…that's just…wow."

"Didn't expect to meet her, either," I admitted, "and yet, here we are."

"Nnnng…Jethro?" I paused and looked down towards the source of the voice: a slowly waking up Spike. He stirred underneath my wings, then opened one eye. "What's going on…?"

"Spike? Are you awake?" Twilight asked eagerly.

Hearing the miniature sounding voice from my phone, Spike rubbed his eyes and sat up, still remaining underneath the wings. "Twilight?"

"Thank Celestia!" Twilight looked completely relieved at seeing the young drake. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he mumbled as he stretched and yawned. Rubbing his eyes, he looked closer at the screen. "Wait…why're everypony else there?"

"I gathered them all," Celestia said, approaching the screen. Twilight stepped aside, and Celestia sat down on her haunches, looking directly at the screen. "Jethro, my knight, I'm pleased to see you're doing well."

"Physically, at least," I admitted. No time like the present.

Celestia's ears lowered a bit. "My knight? Has something happened?"

I reached down, drew the Sunsword, and, after moving the phone a bit away from me, held the sword up. "I found the Sunsword."

Her eyes went completely wide when she saw it. The others gaped at the half blade. In the light of the fire, the blade shimmered, almost as if there was some sort of inner light coming from it. Or as if the fire was feeding it. Looking towards the fire, I saw a small mist coming directly from it, heading directly towards the sword itself. I quickly sheathed it, and the fire, which had been slightly diminished, erupted back to its normal state. Daring, upon seeing this, got back up to check on dinner. I refocused my attention on the screen. "I might have found the Sunsword, but we have a new problem. I had to touch it to remove it. I tried magic, a makeshift rope, even Rarity's gloves she made for me didn't help. In the end, I had to touch it."

Celestia's ears went completely flat and her wings snapped back. Everyone else in the room looked similarly upset and worried. Before anyone else could say anything, I continued. "I wish there'd been another way, Princess…I really do."

She held up a hoof to silence me, and I clamped my lips shut. Leaning forward, she said, "I told you…call me Celestia." Her smile returned, but it looked somewhat strained. "I'm glad you tried your best, but nopony's perfect."

I chuckled a bit. "I ain't a Pone, but thanks for the kind words. I almost started blaming myself again."

Her smile froze on her face, and I could see the reactions of a few of the mares behind Celestia. Beside me, I felt Spike tugging at my shirt. Looking down, he was giving me a fierce draconic glare. "You didn't blame yourself again, did you?"

I shook my head and rubbed my cheek. "Let's just say…Celestia packs a hell of a slap."

The tension on the other end snapped in half and they all burst out laughing. Even Celestia was laughing like a little filly and not even bothering to hide it. Spike's glare vanished and he too laughed. Hearing their laughter made me smile wider than I had in a while. It felt good. It felt right. It felt like nothing had happened, and that the days of just peaceful existence and life were back.

But even that fantasy had to end, and as the laughter died away, Celestia looked at me. "My dearest, most faithful knight, once you are able, please return to us. I'm afraid things have not gotten any better since you left, and we could use your help."

My smile faded away and I took on a serious expression. "Talk to me, Celestia. What happened?"

Celestia sighed. In that moment, I saw, once again, how ancient she must really be behind that eternally young face. The stress lines. The worry. "Our Pegasus scouts are reporting a large number of Dragons mobilizing beyond our borders. There have been sightings of them on our eastern beaches, even as far north as Horseshoe Bay near Baltimare."

"Shit," Spike said before I could stop him.

"Spikey! Such language!" Rarity said, aghast.

"Oh my…" Fluttershy said, looking a bit stunned by Spike's new foul mouth.

"Who knew he had it in him?" Rainbow Dash said, sounding a bit impressed.

"I sure did," Scarlet grinned.

Twilight's ears were pinned back, but her glare was, presumably, directed at me. "When you get back, we are going to have words, Jethro Edward Bethridge. And you too, Spike the Dragon," she growled. A shudder went down my back at the unbridled fury that spread across her face.

I straightened myself up, pulling a now somewhat trembling Spike closer to me and returned her stare with a calm one of my own. "His language aside, Spike is not wrong," I replied. "From what I know, Baltimare is one of Equestria's leading sea trading cities, correct?"

Celestia nodded. "We receive much of our foreign imports from there, and because it's the only coastal city next to a large river, we send much of our own exports out that way as well. I'm pretty sure Torch allowed the Ponies in Baltimare to see the Dragons as some sort of warning."

"Mess with him and he can take out all of our biggest trading cities from other nations," I said, to which Celestia nodded in confirmation. "He really wants the Fae dead that badly that he'd risk going to war with a country harboring them?"

"Anyone can become rash with age," Luna said, looking down mournfully. "Our parents were definitely an example of that…as was I…"

"Lulu, you're as bad as Jethro is sometimes," Celestia said, having turned to face her sister. "We were both at fault for Nightmare Moon, but me especially."

"Hey pot. Kettle called. He says your black," Scarlet said suddenly before she practically shoved Celestia out of the way. She glared at me, but even with the outdated camera on the laptop, I could still see tears in her lovely red eyes. "You'd better come back, you hear," she said, pointing at the screen with her wings in such a way that they almost looked like hands. "So help me, if you die, I will come after you, and in more ways than one!"

"I will come back, that's a promise," I said. Inwardly, I smiled. It made me smile when she made a very covert sexual joke. I looked at everyone on the screen. They all looked extremely tense. I was afraid to ask the next question, but I knew I needed to. "So, what's been going on over there? How are things progressing?"

Over the course of the next ten minutes or so, almost everyone in the room laid out a small report. Celestia had been seeing to the needs of the delegates, staying in her old home and speaking to each delegation individually. Unsurprisingly, the Lycan delegation had not said much to her, but it seemed as if the others were still willing to try and make this council work out for the good of Equestria. Luna, with Blueblood's help, had been maintaining Celestia's court, although she still looked completely exhausted. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, along with many other Ponies in town, had been not only training to fight but had been setting up the town for a potential invasion. Fluttershy had still been tending to the animals displaced by the forest fire and was helping to negotiate with the animals of nearby forests in the hopes that the latter would be open to taking in the former as refugees. Rarity said she'd been looking over some Unicorn spells that she hoped might help in any oncoming battle. Pinkie Pie had, to my surprise, been practicing her cooking so she could, in theory, provide for any soldiers coming back from battle. Twilight had been furiously researching everything she could on Dragons, and Celestia had even allowed her into the restricted section of Canterlot Library, but despite that, even there she found little, just some ancient history about how the first Unicorns who began moving the sun and moon were actually taught how by a few Dragons.

Cadance and Shining had been helping the mayor of Ponyville maintain order. Shining had utilized some of the guard to help in building defensive trebuchets and large armor piercing crossbows all around Ponyville just in case the Dragons attempted to invade the small town and use it as a staging ground for an assault on Canterlot. Cadance had informed the entire town about the situation the day before, and when she mentioned that I was involved in an effort to avoid a war, that had gotten almost the entire town fired up about establishing defenses and training. That made me feel both proud and a bit nervous that I was such a catalyst.

When they finished, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the news from home. Things had definitely gotten more serious than anything in the show. Hearing that they were building defenses against air attacks, especially large crossbows, meant that the innocence these Ponies was being further stolen. Once more, the urge to blame myself rose up, but I quickly suppressed it. I wasn't the one at fault for this, after all. God, it just feels wrong not to feel guilty, but the others are right. Not everything is automatically the fault of the weird winged magical human-Alicorn hybrid.

"Sir Jethro? Does something ail you?" Luna asked, concern creeping into her somewhat rough but still lovely voice.

I closed my eyes, shook my head briefly, then opened them again, smiling. "No, it's nothing, sorry. Just my own stupid thoughts being stupidly stupid."

Pinkie came up then, some of the fluff back in her mane. "You tell those stupidly stupid thoughts that they're dump and stupid," she said in an encouraging tone. "Do that, Jethy-Wethy!"

I smirked. "Alright, Pinks. I'll do just that." Deciding to be a bit silly for a bit, I pointed my fingers at my head, then flicked my forehead and said, "You're being dumb, stupid thoughts!" That caused the entire room to laugh. Even Daring Do chuckled slightly at my foolish antics. After a few moments of laughter, I turned to look back at Celestia. "Tomorrow morning, I'll go to Torch's throne. He said he'd be waiting there for me to present him with the sword. Do you think you'll be able to open a portal back to Ponyville afterwards?"

She shook her head. "As much as I want to, I can't risk it. It's a massive drain on my magic, and if things start going wrong, I'll need to be at full strength." She looked at me, a look of guilt passing over her face. "Even though you're important to me and the others here, I can't justify the risk when my little Ponies are in danger like this."

"Tia, stop." I held up a hand, silencing her. "You're doing fine so far. I'd leave right now if I wasn't so wiped out from today. First light tomorrow, we'll head to Torch's throne then start back home, I promise."

Celestia smiled a bit, and I saw a very small blush form on her face, presumably because I called her Tia, something I'd never seen her be called in canon. "We all look forward to seeing you and Spike home safely. Take care."

"Use those skills I taught you, and kick some Dragon ass!" Rainbow said with a grin.

"Be safe please…I love you…" Fluttershy said softly, giving me one of her more beautiful but still worried smiles.

"You're getting the biggest super-duper party ever when this is over, sexy Jethy-Wethy!" Pinkie said happily.

"Do take care of yourself, darling," Rarity said. "And you too, my brave little Spikey-Wikey."

Spike blushed and waved. "See you later, Rarity!"

"Y'all come back now, ya hear?" Applejack said, bowing slightly and smiling.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Twilight said with a tender and loving smile.

"I very much look forward to your return," Luna said.

"We haven't had that guy's night you promised," Shining said with a grin.

"Hurry back now," Cadance said with a warm smile.

"May the winds of the world guide your travels, my dearest," Zecora said.

"We'll be back sooner than you think," I replied. "Stay safe, and have a good night's sleep. You look like you all need-"

"HOLD IT!"

A very familiar voice broke through my own farewells. The door to the library had burst open and a very pissed off looking Gemini stood there, glaring around the room. Behind her, a panting and worried Mica ran in, gasping for air as he said, "Gem, wait just a minute-"

"Where is he?" Gemini growled. "Where is that useless good-for-nothing weak whelp!?"

Rainbow Dash quickly got into Gemini's face. I couldn't see her face, but I could only guess that the loyal Pegasus was glaring back. "Hey, what the hell is your problem, huh?!"

"Out of my way you fucking prismatic Pony!" Gemini roared, shoving Dash to the side and sending her crashing into a nearby bookshelf.

"Now wait just a gol-darn minute-!" Applejack began, stepping up to her with fury in her voice, but Celestia quickly stepped in and pulled the orange mare back with her magic.

"My little Lycan, who are you looking for?" Celestia asked, her voice calm and collected like a seasoned ruler.

"You get out of my way too, your 'Highness', this isn't your business," Gemini snarled at Celestia. "I'm looking for my so-called master! AND DON'T CALL ME LITTLE AGAIN!"

"I'm over here, Gemini," I said a bit loudly so she could hear me.

Gemini whirled towards the sound, and stormed passed the Solar Diarch. I saw her grab the laptop and hoist it up without a care in the world, much to the dismay of the mares around it, especially Twilight, who was begging her to be careful since it was a delicate piece of technology. She glared at the screen, and the scene before me began trembling. There was silence on both ends for about half a minute. Finally, Gemini barred her teeth at me. "So help me, Jethro Bethridge, I swear by the Guardian…if you die on me, I will kill myself and chase you all across the afterlife until you make it up to me, MULTIPLE TIMES UNTIL YOU'RE A WEAK SHELL OF YOUR FORMER SELF! You won't escape my wrath!" She held up one paw, her claws unsheathed. "Don't you FUCKING dare do anything stupid! PROMISE ME!" She was hyperventilating now, breathing in heavily and showing her wolflike teeth. And in the corner of one of her eyes, something glistened briefly in the library's light, but was gone before I could fully register what I saw.

I raised my hand in an attempt to be reassuring, the other one around a somewhat trembling Spike who had been startled by Gemini's unusual outburst. I looked directly into the camera to give the illusion that I was looking directly at her and nodded. "I won't. That's a promise."

Gemini stared at me for a few seconds more, finally seeming to relax. "You'd better not break that promise, or that bite I gave you will be the LEAST of your Guardian-damned worries," she said in a surprisingly softer tone before she apparently dropped the laptop.

I heard someone shout, then the screen became encased in a familiar purple magic glow before returning to its spot on the table. In the background, I saw Gemini walking out of the door followed closely by Mica. The door behind him shut, leaving the library totally silent. A few moments passed before Scarlet blurted, "Well…that just happened."

"Anypony have any idea why she was acting like that?" Twilight asked, looking around.

I heard murmurs all around the room, everyone just shaking their heads and admitting their own ignorance to the situation. The only two who appeared noncommittal, however, were Zecora and, to my surprise, Cadance. The latter looked at the laptop briefly, and despite the low quality of the webcam, I could almost see a brief smirk on her muzzle which promptly disappeared. Zecora, on the other hand, simply leaned forward towards the laptop and said, "I will have a long talk with her later about it."

"I appreciate it," I replied.

Daring, who was back to stirring the pot, perked up. "You speak Farasi?" she asked.

"I speak a lot of Equestrian languages, but that's not important," I replied. Looking back at the screen, I added, "Listen, everyone, it's been very nice to see you all, but we're completely wiped. We're gonna have a quick dinner then head to bed. At first light, we head to the Dragon Lord's throne."